Rachel blasted for sharing 'pain'

S Club star Rachel Stevens faced a barrage of social media criticism for her relationship with her Dancing On Ice partner after opening up on TV about the breakdown of her marriage to her childhood sweetheart

- Indigo Stafford

By anyone’s standards, it has been a tough couple of weeks for Rachel Stevens, who faced a backlash after opening up about the pain of her marriage breakdown, after she fell for her Dancing On Ice partner Brendyn Hatfield.

The S Club singer, 46, spoke out for the first time about her split from husband Alex Bourne, admitting that developing romantic feelings for professional skater Brendyn, 38 – her now boyfriend – was the reason behind the separation.

Rachel, who met Brendyn in late 2021 during training for Dancing On Ice, confessed that her marriage to estate agent Alex was already on the rocks before she joined the ITV show. She said meeting Brendyn was the confirmation she needed to end things, leading to a “messy and scary” split from her ex.

But a source tells us, “Rachel might have thought she was doing the right thing by talking openly about falling for Brendyn and the breakdown of her marriage with Alex. And she may have hoped that people were going to relate and understand her point of view. But sadly, she’s had a lot of backlash.”

Rachel married her childhood sweetheart Alex in 2009, but cracks had started to appear in their relationship by the time she was on